What Can 792 Teeth Tell Archaeologists About Ancient Israelites?
See this page in: Bulgarian, Dutch (Nederlands), French (Français) An ancient tomb recently uncovered at Khirbet Nisya, eight miles north of Jerusalem, was found with hardly a bone intact. Yet, through careful excavation, this burial cave tells an amazing tale about the people buried there. The entrance to the tomb is shown here. The tomb dates to the time of the Book of Judges in the Bible. As might be expected from a damp cave, bodies buried 3,200 years ago had long since returned to dust. But precise excavation recovered evidence of each individual—their teeth, 792 in total! Carefully dentist Austin Robbins organized the teeth into individuals and determined 51 individuals were buried in the cave. Apparently unknown and untouched by man for 3,200 years, the tomb was rediscovered by archaeologists from the Associates for Biblical Research in 1985. A natural limestone cave, it was utilized as a family tomb for approximately 200 years. Based on items found in the tomb, it is dated to t
